Do we always deserve a second chance?
by part-timeslayer
Summary: 5x05 and beyond AU. Ali is back in Rosewood, A is gone for good, and Emily is really just trying to wrap her head around all of it. While also attempting to stay out of jail, survive Ali's many unmasked enemies, make it through senior year, and maybe even get the perfectly imperfect girl of her dreams (and, sometimes, her nightmares).
1. Chapter 1

Emily traced the soft skin of Ali's naked back, featherlight, ready to jerk her hand away at the slightest hint of Alison's displeasure. It felt like a dream, being in bed next to the first girl she'd ever loved, someone that she'd thought she'd lost forever for so long. But as wonderful as it was, there was also that sharp stinging knowledge that she was going to wake up soon, and she was never going to be able to revisit this moment no matter how much she wanted to.

Ali shifted onto her side, turning to Emily, hair falling in her face as she nuzzled into Emily's neck. Emily held her breath, tried not to move a muscle lest Alison change her mind. She could clearly envision Ali rolling away, getting dressed, and coolly reminding Emily where the door is.

She felt Ali frown for all her efforts.

Emily pulled back just enough to brush the soft blonde hair out of her face, and tilted her chin up.

"What's wrong?"

Ali chased her neck, and Emily pulled back further. Ali groaned and finally met her eyes with a challenging stare.

"You."

Emily looked away, pretended to be fascinated by Ali's bedroom as though she hadn't seen it a million times before, and pulled the sheet up to cover her chest. "Yeah?"

"Mmhmm. Kind of uncomfortable when your pillow seems to have a severe anxiety issue."

Emily rolled her eyes, and let a smile spread across her face to match Ali's playful smirk.

"Sorry."

Ali shook her head and kissed her. Emily froze, somehow not expecting something like that to happen despite literally being in the girl's bed, and with said girl seeming not to have any negative feelings about what had happened between them. Yet.

Emily responded a second too late, just leaning into it when Ali sat up.

"Okay, seriously, you gonna tell me why you're suddenly not into this?"

"Hey, I'm very into this," Emily said, sitting up and pressing kisses against Ali's mouth, her jaw, her neck.

Alison arched into her touch, moved the sheet aside impatiently, and settled firmly on her lap, wrapping her arms around Emily's neck.

Another shocking reaction.

Emily wasn't sure what to think of an Ali that was openly into what was going on between them. Before Emily had always been the one to cross lines, to steal a kiss. Ali had always been the one to talk and tease, to dare Emily to go for those kisses, but never kissed first, never initiated anything more.

She hated that even now she couldn't help but question Alison's motives. Was she actually into it, or was she this desperate to have someone to lean on? Emily hoped it wasn't the second, both due to her own feelings, and because the thought of doing anything with Ali, or anyone, that wasn't really into it made her sick to her stomach.

She was about to pull back, to question her yet again, to make sure for the hundredth time in the past twenty-four hours that Ali really was okay with everything, that she wanted it, when she registered the amount of dampness firmly being ground against her hip.

Emily sighed out at the contact and ran her hands down from Ali's shoulder blades to her hips, was just starting to guide her in gentle rocking motions when Ali suddenly pulled back with a muffled moan. Emily didn't bother to suppress her own moan, but also didn't make any attempt to stop Alison.

Alison's face was flushed and the bright red was already spreading down to her chest, her breathing heavy.

"As much as I was enjoying myself, I have a feeling that something's on your mind. And that it has to do with me."

"You're just being self-centered," Emily reassured.

Ali rolled her eyes, and grinned, "For your sake, I'm going to forget you said that."

Emily hummed, and leaned in for another kiss, mostly just due to attraction, but also admittedly a thinly veiled distraction attempt. Which Alison, of course, saw through immediately.

"You're scared. Of me."

Emily paused before opening her mouth to deny it, and Alison was already raising an eyebrow in disbelief before Emily could get a word out.

"Ali, I'm not scared of you. I just…I can't help wondering about what happens next. Is this just because you need someone? Or is it because…because you want me? And it's okay, it's fine, I mean it's not but I'll get over it eventually, that is if you just needed someone. I can't imagine what you've been through, I know how hard everything has been, and I get being confused. We can still be friends. Just- I need to know, but I'm also a little bit terrified of what you're going to say now."

Ali looked down at her lap and moved her hands from Emily's shoulders to her stomach. Emily felt her muscles contract at the fingers stroking absentmindedly against them, and allowed herself to focus on the sensation for the moment rather than the fact that Alison hadn't answered.

"I don't know. I…caring about people isn't easy for me, I barely understand love as a concept to be honest. But I do care about you. I know that. And I know that I enjoyed last night, that I want to feel that again. That there's no one I want more. That's probably not exactly the answer you wanted, not all that romantic, but it's what I have, so," Ali shrugged, glancing away.

Emily wasn't sure that she'd ever seen her look more insecure, more hopeful, or more honest.

"Ali, it's more than enough."

* * *

When they walked through the school doors Emily could feel Alison shifting. Going from the playful, if sarcastic, happy girl of the morning to wary and withdrawn. Defensive.

Emily wasn't sure how to feel about the mask falling into place. On one hand she knew that Ali needed that mask, she needed to be as strong as possible with everything that was going on, dealing with A, and the stares, and the loss of her mom, and the police, but she also missed Her Ali.

It didn't mean that she didn't appreciate strong Ali, though. She admired it even, the way that Ali could focus her energy on her goals, the way that no one ever treated her like she was made out of glass unless she wanted them too, how no one could push her around because few people in Rosewood were as scary as she was.

It was even a little hot, Emily noted, taking in the daring smirk spread across pouty pink lips she was shooting anyone who dared to stare a little too long, the way she kept her chin high, eyes cold.

Emily nearly ran into a shouting sophomore when Ali raised an eyebrow with a small smile and twinkling eyes, having clearly noted the little look over Emily was giving her.

And just like that Ali was reeling her back in.

No matter how much Emily wanted to stay smart with her, to not let Alison get in her head, to stay cool and collected around her, she couldn't deny that she was always going to melt whenever she saw the ice thaw from Ali's gaze the moment she turned to Emily.

How different Ali could treat her sometimes in comparison to how she treated everyone else was a major weak spot for her. It was one of the few solid indications that she had that she wasn't just an idiot falling for Ali's act, proof of a genuine affection that Ali had just for her.

"There you guys are. Hey, you both missed First and Second period, what's up?" Aria said, startling them both, though Ali would never admit it.

Emily had seen her split-second jump.

"Nothing. We just stayed in for a bit," Ali shrugged, not bothering to offer any more information.

Sadly, Emily was mostly just relieved that she'd answered without the involvement of insults or cryptic messages. A little vague was annoying, but not nearly as bad as Ali could get.

Emily nodded to Aria, smoothly agreeing with Ali, and leaned back against the locker next to Ali's. She watched her struggle with it for a moment, Ali had gotten one with a tendency to jam, before gently placing a hand on Alison's hip and steering her back a few inches, taking over and popping the metal door open on the first try.

Ali rolled her eyes and shot the locker a mildly annoyed glare before starting to gather her things, but Emily could tell that she didn't really have any problem with Emily getting the door for her. Yet another proof that Ali really did like her.

There was no way Ali wouldn't have been a little pissed if anyone else had been able to do something that she couldn't do, even if it was something as small as opening a locker.

"Well, make sure one of you guys get in touch with Spencer, she's freaking, says she's been texting Emily all morning with no answer. I think she's convinced A kidnapped you guys. Hanna and I tried to tell her that was a little extreme even for A, but whatever."

Ali narrowed her eyes, and Emily braced herself for what she knew Ali was going to say to that.

"Since when is Spencer my keeper? I don't have to explain myself to her or anyone else."

Yep. It was almost scary how well Emily knew her sometimes.

Ali slammed her locker shut, and Emily wordlessly took her books, more because she was worried about Ali throwing them at something (or someone) with the mood that she seemed to be in, than because of any sense of chivalry.

"I'll talk to Spencer, thanks for the heads up, Aria," Emily tried to smile at her.

Which wasn't easy with the look that Aria was giving her arms full of Alison's books.

It wasn't the exasperated look that Spencer would give her if she noticed, or the livid and disappointed look that Hanna would, but it was still something, and it made Emily shift uncomfortably under the weight of it.

Alison clearly noticed it too, but instead of taking the books or storming off, as one would expect, she just gave Aria a glance that dared her to question what was going on with them, before looping her arm around Emily's and pulling her along to class.

Emily wasn't sure what to make of it, sure the touch was innocent enough, but she knew what people would think when they saw Emily Fields arm-in-arm with another girl, and she was pretty sure that Ali did too. And yet there she was, not even keeping space between them, just going all out, pressing the length of her body to Emily's side, head leaning on Emily's shoulder.

It was as though after their conversation that morning Ali had decided that she just didn't care anymore. Not that she'd ever really cared about anyone else's opinions.

Emily was cautious though. She didn't want to get too excited about the thought of this being Ali's own weird way of coming out, just not saying anything about it to anyone, including her possible, sort of, potential girlfriend, and showing up to school with said somewhat girlfriend one day, when Ali could just be lost in thought. Maybe just not thinking about how cuddling up to Emily would look to everyone else.

But that also felt false. There was never a moment when Ali wasn't hyper-aware of everyone in the room, when she wasn't sizing people up, or paying attention to how they reacted to anything going on. It was near impossible to imagine Alison just being oblivious to something like that.

"You're overthinking again," Ali noted softly, lips brushing against Emily's ear.

"Am I?"

"What about?" Ali ignored the deflection.

Emily was tempted to tell her everything, all of her fears about where the hell Ali wanted to go with their relationship, if anywhere, how she was supposed to be acting, but just as the words were about to come rushing out she remembered all of the stares of the students, and some of the teachers.

Ali's minor celebrity status was still present and seemed far from fading. The fact that she'd just shown up to school halfway through the day only seemed to make her more conspicuous. As frustrated and confused as she was, she couldn't just demand answers like that from Ali in front of anyone else. It was too personal.

Especially when it was her own fault that she was in her current position. She could have asked for more from Ali just an hour ago, but she'd been so caught up in Ali acknowledging that there was anything between them at all that she hadn't even considered the question of what that more was.

"We really don't need to talk about this here," Emily answered.

"Okay." Ali said, tone clearly indicating that the conversation was far from over.

Emily didn't know whether to be annoyed that Ali was all about hearing how she felt while still making no move to tell Emily anything about what was going on with herself, or flattered that Ali cared.

* * *

"No. I'm not allowing it, Em."

"Hanna, allowing what?"

"You think we don't all see what's going on here? Ali being all cuddly and clingy with you? She's still trying to get under your skin and you're letting it happen. Like always."

Emily didn't bother answering that, instead exchanging a glance with Aria.

Unfortunately, though, Aria seemed to have decided to go the Switzerland route, and just shrugged back in response.

Still, it was better than the lecture Hanna was giving her in the middle of the cafeteria, or the judgy glances Spencer was shooting her while pretending that she didn't notice anything or have an opinion on the matter.

It was especially unfair given that Emily hadn't actually said anything about what was going on between her and Alison. Apparently, just walking Ali to class was a capital offense these days.

"Em, I'm serious. Ali isn't-"

"I'm not what?"

And speak of the devil.

Emily cleared her throat as she looked up to see that Alison had walked up behind her and Hanna's chairs unnoticed, except possibly by Aria and Spencer who seemed determined not to get involved.

Emily shot them both a sarcastic 'thanks a lot' look, and turned to Ali.

"Hanna was just saying that-"

"Emily, if you're about to lie to me, I'd seriously reconsider."

And now she was in trouble with both her best friend and her something. Great.

Hanna looked at her as though that proved everything.

That Ali hadn't changed at all, and was right back to her domineering ways. Emily was tempted to roll her eyes. Sure, she could see how Hanna might think that, but there's also the fact that Ali had just walked up to her friends to have lunch, only to find them arguing about her behind her back.

Emily could get why she might be a bit annoyed.

"I was just telling Emily the truth. That you're never gonna get married, have kids, and do the whole happily ever thing with her. It is what it is. She needs to move on," Hanna answered, shrugging as though she hadn't just said horrible, humiliating, things, just to piss off Alison.

"Hanna, are you drunk right now?" Spencer asked, finally deciding to get involved, and surprisingly defending Emily on the issue.

Emily knew better than to think that meant that she was any more okay with anything happening between her and Alison than Hanna was, but it was still more than she expected.

"Buzzed isn't drunk. And no, that's not affecting my judgement. Admit it, you're not any more okay with this than I am, so stop trying to pretend that you're any better than me here. Ali's using Emily, our best friend, we're just sitting here letting it happen, and Emily is too."

Alison cut in before anyone else could even begin to think of a retort.

"Hanna, one, you're slurring. Two, Emily's a big girl, she can make her own decisions without you all getting involved. And three. . . I thought I was your friend too." Alison actually looked kind of hurt, and walked away without another glance back.

"Ali! Hanna-just, really?" Emily stammered, torn between chasing Ali, yelling at Hanna, or trying to figure out how to help Hanna, because something was clearly going on with her that was more than a problem with Emily's taste in crush.

Finally, her choice was made for her, as Hanna huffed and stormed off in the opposite direction of Alison.

"Did that seriously just happen?" Emily asked rhetorically.

"It would appear so," Spencer answered.

"Not helping," Aria said, "I'll go try to stop Hanna, and Emily, you should probably get Ali before she eviscerates someone."

"Probably a good idea," Emily agreed, almost reluctantly.

She wasn't sure how Ali was going to react, and she knew that she likely wasn't going to want to be on the receiving end of whatever mood Ali had to be in now.

"Too late," Spencer pointed out, standing up.

Emily turned to see what she was looking at, only to find Ali having just made it to the cafeteria doors, only to be stopped by Mona and a group of the other kids that Ali had picked on.

"Shit."

* * *

Emily glared at the movie she'd put on while brooding on her window seat.

It stung to feel like such an idiot. She'd know that Ali wasn't trustworthy, she'd felt it, everyone in Rosewood had warned her, and yet she'd somehow thought that she was some kind of exception. That Ali actually cared about her enough to just tell the truth, to know that Emily wouldn't turn on her.

But she hadn't.

And she'd broken their trust, again, over something so stupid.

She couldn't even be honest about slapping Mona and calling her names, as though that would suddenly be some big deal breaker for Emily. Which, okay, maybe it should be. Maybe Emily shouldn't be so quick to be okay with being with someone who treated other people that way. But, in both her and Ali's defense, it was freaking Mona.

Emily herself had wanted to slap her half the times they'd talked even before she'd found out the girl was their anonymous tormentor.

And it wasn't like she wasn't fully aware of how low Ali could stoop. She knew that though Ali claimed not to be the same person she was before, that she'd even proven that she was at least a little bit different, that there would always be an edge to her. That Ali would always at least be capable of doing very dark things, even if she managed to refrain from the impulse.

So, for the life of her, she couldn't understand why Ali felt the need to keep spinning her webs. To keep trying to put on some glamorous front, acting as though she was better than she was in front of them, when they'd already proven their loyalty a hundred times over.

And most importantly, the need to keep them all running around blind when she seemed to hold so many cards and puzzle pieces.

It was as though Ali was so obsessed with having absolute control that she felt that she had to manipulate reality itself, even when it was wholly unnecessary.

How could Emily ever get past something like that? How does someone build a future with a girl that has no clue how to just not lie about every little thing? How to let things be without being in charge of every aspect?

The worst part, the part of the whole thing that Emily was most ashamed of, was the fact that she was still seriously, desperately, trying to find the answers to those questions.

How sick and pathetic was that?

How many times was she gonna let Alison kick her down like this before she finally learned her lesson? How much longer until she'd finally be able to just let her go?

Emily's frown deepened as she heard a knock come from the front door, and almost immediately after her mother politely letting someone in. She was beyond not up for any visitors whatsoever, much less the one that she was certain she was about to get.

She braced herself, crossed her arms firmly across her chest, and resolutely kept her eyes on the television even as self-assured footsteps made their way up the stairs until finally stopping in her doorway.

Yep. Alison.

* * *

Emily turned off the news, and stared out the door her friends had all just walked out of, except Alison, all of them as dazed as she was.

She almost didn't know to do with herself, what to think about finally having a name to the girl who'd ended up in Ali's grave. Bethany.

It was hard to believe that things were finally ending. A was gone, they'd finally found out who the girl buried in Alison's yard was, and Ali was back.

The nightmare was coming to a close, and finally being replaced with something else. Hopefully something better.

Well, that is if they managed to avoid jailtime for lying about a kidnapping, not to mention everything else that had happened over the last few years. Or the very real possibility of Ali not making it out of high school intact.

Emily was almost tempted to suggest a middle ground between Ali leaving town and Ali throwing herself into the lion's den. To tell Ali to just stay home, homeschooling was a thing, lots of people did it, Ali could do it as well for the next year or so and move on to college.

But she knew that Ali would never agree to it.

Mostly, because it would too much like defeat. Letting everyone walk all over her, push her out of her own school, a school she basically used to own. Then on top of that, there seemed to be Ali's genuine desire to apologize for the things that she'd done, to take their punishment, and to make everyone understand that she'd changed, that she was sorry.

And finally, Emily almost felt guilty for thinking it, but she was pretty sure that a small part of Ali actually liked the drama of it. Sweeping back into Rosewood from the grave, taking the school by storm.

It was classic Alison Dilaurentis.

Emily shook her head and cracked a microscopic smile, kind of hating herself for it, but too exhausted and overwhelmed to fight the fondness that was washing over her at that last thought.

Alison squeezed her hand again, seeming to take it as a good sign that Emily had let her hold it for so long, and now seemed to be in an almost sort of good mood.

Emily squeezed it back.

The moment that she'd responded to Ali reaching for her earlier was the moment that things had shifted.

The moment that she'd seen Alison staring at the news, the story covering one of the many bodies found buried in the Dilaurentis yard, watched her blue eyes go glassy, remembered that not all Ali's trauma was fake, that she'd been through so many horrible things that were oh so real, and a lot of it painfully recent, was the moment that she fully realized that she was never going to get over her.

No matter how mad Alison made her, no matter how nonsensical and paranoid and chessmastery her choices were, no matter her past, or the way that'd made Emily feel in that past, when it came down to it, Emily was always going to want to protect her. Always going to ache at the knowledge that she was one that Ali reached for. Always going to forgive her. Always going to see more to her than what she showed the world.

She'd gotten so swept up in everything for a moment that she'd almost forgotten that there was more to Ali than just the lies. And she'd almost forgotten the reason for the lies. That Ali's ability with words and way with people were the only reasons she'd managed to survive over the past few years, the only way she had to navigate the world she'd found herself in.

It shouldn't shock her that Ali was finding that way of living hard to give up when the police were still identifying the murder victims in her life. She didn't have to like it, didn't even have to stop hating it and being annoyed by it when that little defense mechanism was directed at her, but maybe she did owe it to both herself and Alison to remember the why of it.

Now, the only thing left to figure out was if Ali was serious about wanting all of that, all of Emily, and serious about putting in the effort to be the kind of person that Emily wasn't ashamed of giving all of herself to.

"Emily, I know you're still mad, I get it, but please, can I stay here tonight?"

Emily looked at her, trying to find something without even knowing what that something was. Maybe a reason to say no. More likely, a reason to say yes.

She saw someone that was begging for forgiveness. Begging to be let back in, begging for a second chance. And eyes filled with affection, trust.

"Yeah Ali, I think I'd like that."

* * *

 **Author's Note: So, the deal is I plan to continue this story, but I haven't decided yet whether it's going to be a 12k short chapter fic, or if this is the one that I'm finally going to go all out on. This might be the story that I turn into a whole intricate AU and 40k monster. You guys help me figure out which.**


	2. Chapter 2

There was a whole different vibe in the cafeteria the next day. Spencer, Hanna, and Aria all seemed to have their own bigger problems going on, and had apparently decided, for the moment at least, that they didn't really care if Emily wanted to hook up with Alison. It was a nice reprieve, though the cost of it made Emily's insides hurt.

She hated that Spencer had to go through her parent's splitting up, hated that Hanna was apparently going through an identity crisis thanks to Ali's return, and Caleb showing up out of nowhere was clearly not helping.

She wasn't as sympathetic to Aria's whole situation with Ezra, but she also knew that she was probably the one that should understand better than anyone what it's like to love someone with a bad history and a lifetime's worth of secrets. And regardless of whether she agreed with Aria's continued relationship with him, she was always going to be in her friend's corner, hurting when she was.

Even Ali seemed subdued. Not on edge, not starting in with anyone, not even trying to charm all their classmates and teachers. She seemed content just sitting by Emily's side, touching her arm every time she spoke, enjoying the quiet.

She was still easily put on edge though, still adjusting back to just dealing with regular mean girl warfare rather than a mysterious killer intent on hunting her down and torturing her friends. Truth be told, all of them were still adjusting.

Emily eased into Ali's touch as Ali leaned closer, letting her whole right side press against Emily's left, and absentmindedly rested a hand on Ali's thigh.

"I just don't understand how this could happen? I know my parents have their issues, but seriously, splitting up? I can't believe I'm living in a hotel right now," Spencer whispered, glancing over her shoulder.

Emily caught Alison slightly raising her eyebrows, as though she wasn't the least bit surprised by the situation, and was glad that Spencer was still too busy looking for any eavesdroppers to notice the reaction.

Emily squeezed Ali's thigh, trying to warn her to be more sympathetic regardless of what she might have thought about Mr. Hastings.

Ali seemed to understand, dropping her gaze to the table demurely.

It was things like that that concerned Emily the most about getting into a relationship with Alison. That she had to remind her to have a little empathy.

Though, there was a bright side to it. It showed that Alison wasn't trying to fake them at the moment. When Ali was in-character, she rarely broke it. If she was truly trying to manipulate them, she'd have been the first one to pipe up with something comforting to say.

And there was the fact that her own mother had just died. As horrible as this was for Spencer, Emily acknowledged that it possibly seemed kind of trivial to Ali to worry about a divorce when your parents were both still alive and well.

Not that either of them should express that thought now. It definitely wasn't the time to start telling Spencer that it could be worse.

Emily soothingly stroked little circles on Ali's leg, while keeping her eyes on Spencer.

"Spence, maybe it's a good thing. My parents split up, and, yeah, it was really hard, sometimes it still is, but they're both doing okay," Aria answered, reaching over to rub Spencer's arm.

"My parents getting a divorce is not a good thing, Aria."

"Okay, I didn't mean it like that exactly. I'm just saying, you'll be okay, okay? We're all here for you, and your dad still cares about you too, that's not gonna change just because things didn't work out with your mom," Aria explained.

Spencer shook her head and left the table, only stopping briefly to pat Aria's arm reassuringly.

Aria sighed, and seeming anxious to keep the harmony in the group and the conversation flowing, turned to Hanna.

"So, Caleb came with you to Emily's last night."

"Yeah."

Emily exchanged a glance with Aria, and felt Ali tense up.

She always did that when the other girls acted particularly close with each other, rather than with her, and when they talked about things that she didn't know as much about.

"You guys are hanging out again?"

Hanna pushed her food around on her plate, before looking at Emily.

"What are we gonna do about Mona? You know she's still trying to assassinate your girlfriend, right?"

"Mona doesn't matter. I'll handle her," Alison interjected.

"That's my problem, actually. I don't want _you_ doing anything to her, Alison. I know how you deal with people. She was my friend, I'm gonna try to talk to her. And, I was thinking that maybe Emily, Spencer, and Aria could try to be a little nicer to her, y'know, not glare every time she walks by."

Emily raised an eyebrow. "In what universe would I feel compelled to be nice to Mona?"

"The one where you care about your best-friend," Hanna asserted defensively.

"She was horrible to us, she ran you over with a car, Hanna, and now she's out to drive Alison, one of my other best-friends, in case you forgot, out of town."

"Look, we all know that Alison kind of deserves that," Hanna answered, shooting an apologetic grimace at Ali, but not making any move to retract her statement.

Emily resented the words, but couldn't refute the truth of them.

Alison was staring at Hanna impassively, not taking offense to the statement.

"You're right. I was not…kind to Mona, and I know that I've earned every ounce of anger that her flunkies have for me, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to lie back and take everything that they want to dish out."

"I'm not saying that you have to. I don't want anything bad to happen to you Ali, believe it or not, but I don't want anything bad happening to Mona either. So, please, at least give me a chance to take care of this before things get out of control," Hanna said, words pleading, but tone defiant.

Ali sighed. "Okay. Do what you have to do, but I'm not going to promise not to retaliate if she slaps me again or sends one of followers to do it for her."

The agreement stunned Emily, and could see that both Aria and Hanna were in the same boat.

"Em, walk me to Fourth period?"

"Sure, Ali."

Emily got up, and took the hand Ali offered her.

* * *

Emily sighed, staring at the door of the locker room for a long moment.

She was about to upset a lot of people. Alison, Mona, Hanna. Paige. But she also didn't feel like she had a choice. It was one thing to agree to let Hanna take the lead, or even to agree to play nice, but she couldn't just do nothing when Ali was in trouble and she had a way to stop it, or at least mitigate it.

She pushed the door open, holding it and slowly closing it to make sure that it didn't make a sound, and slid into the room. She knew Paige would be there, could hear her moving around, opening her locker, and braced herself for the confrontation.

When she rounded the corner, Paige jumped.

Emily leant against the locker, trying to stay calm.

The situation wasn't dire, both Alison and Hanna were already on it, and Mona hadn't done anything so far other than make an unflattering video of Alison. Still, it put her on edge to know that Mona was out to get Ali, and worse, that she had a team of anonymous minions who all had a bone to pick with Alison as well.

She was tired of jumping at shadows, tired of not knowing who was trying to hurt her and her friends, tired of being a sitting duck just waiting for the next blow to come. A was gone, and she had no intention of letting this keep happening for the rest of her life. She was done being a victim.

"Paige, you need to tell me who's helping Mona."

"No. Why would I do that?" Paige looked both as though she couldn't believe that Emily had the audacity to ask her to help Alison, and annoyed at herself for being surprised.

"Because it's important. You know what Mona is capable of."

"And I know what Alison is capable of. She's not even sorry for anything, we all heard her say it."

Emily sighed, not able to deny that, but-"Mona set her up, she knew what she was doing."

Paige shook her head and sat down on the bench, as though she couldn't meet Emily's eyes when Emily was asking her for something like this. Or as though to keep her resolve.

"Mona didn't force her to say anything, Emily. Alison was the one who made that choice. And she was able to do that because she's been playing everyone. Because she's the same person she's always been."

"Look, even if that is true, could you really live with yourself if something happened to her when you could have stopped it?" Emily asked.

Paige was one of the best people she knew, appealing to her better nature was the best tactic Emily could think of.

Well, without playing with her feelings. Suggesting that she'd be willing to get back together with the other girl if she told her. That idea had crossed her mind for a split second, and she wasn't sure if she could ever forgive herself for it. She couldn't believe that she'd become the kind of person who even had thoughts like that.

All the more reason to put an end to all of this.

"I mean, probably. I'm willing to find out."

"You don't mean that."

"Look, Mona's made it very clear that she's not interested in hurting Alison, she just wants her gone. And I can't blame her for that. Everyone, other than you and your friends, want her gone, Emily. I'm not going to stop her from trying to get Alison to leave town. If it was life or death it'd be a different story, but it's not. I'm sorry, I can't help you."

Emily moved to sit down on the bench next to Paige.

"Paige, I get what you're saying, but please. Mona is dangerous, and the amount of hate that some of those people have for Alison-things could very quickly get out of hand, even if Mona is telling the truth about her intentions. I need names."

Paige closed her eyes for a long moment.

"Hastings. That's all I'm gonna say."

Emily reached out and rested a hand on Paige's shoulder.

"Thank you."

* * *

Emily parked outside of Hanna's house, and tried to figure out how she was going to explain knowing that Melissa was working with Mona.

She managed to come up with a couple half-baked explanations before dismissing them all. She couldn't get mad about everyone else keeping secrets and going rogue while doing the same thing. She'd already gone against what Hanna wanted, at least a little, she wasn't going to make things worse by lying about it.

Mrs. Marin let her in with a slightly strained smile, looking anxiously up in the general direction of Hanna's room.

"Hello, Emily. I'm glad you're here. You might want to head on upstairs."

"Is everything okay? They're not trying to kill each other, right?" Emily asked, only half-joking.

"Hey, I wouldn't send you up without reinforcements if that was the case. No, just, I actually haven't heard much of anything from them, which almost worries me more. Alison being back has been hard on Hanna.

"I thought she'd be thrilled about it, all you girls were always so close, and she's one of the people who helped get Alison back in the first place…but, I don't know. I guess it's just the shock of it. I'm glad that she has you and the other girls at least, I can't imagine what it's been like for all of you," Mrs. Marin admitted.

"It's been…interesting. And I'm glad you know that we're all here for Hanna. We always have each other's backs."

Mrs. Marin smiled slightly, and let Emily continue on up the stairs without another word.

She stopped right outside the door as she heard voices. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop on her friends, but it sounded like whatever they were talking about was intense, and she didn't want to interrupt if they were coming to an understanding.

"All we have to do is keep our story straight. Don't forget, I'm not the only one who's in trouble here. Aria killed someone, and all of you have been covering up for both of us."

"Yeah, I got that, we've been over it a million times."

"I'm just saying, don't slip up. If you must go the 'kill em with kindness' route, at least make sure that you don't say a single word about what's been going on that we haven't agreed on. Mona already knows a lot more about what's gone down than I'm comfortable with.

"She will notice any mistake, she'll figure out what it means, and then we're all screwed. She's smart, Hanna, she has good reason to hate me, and she's proven in the past that she'll do what she has to in order to carry out her sick little plans."

"Ali, knock it off. Mona's apologized, she's changed. She wouldn't hurt me. All she wants is you gone, not all of us in prison."

There was a pause, and Emily started to make her way into the room, when Ali responded.

"Fine. I guess I'm not the only one who needs a second chance."

Emily entered the room, and took in the scene in front of her.

From their tones, she'd thought that they'd be across the room from each other, trying to keep as much space between them as possible as they argued, and was surprised to find them sitting next to each other on Hanna's bed. To anyone who didn't know what they'd just been discussing, it would look like a pretty normal 'two friends hanging out' situation. They weren't even that tense, as though they'd come to an agreement, understood what they both wanted, and we're okay with each other.

No, it wasn't as affectionate as when any other pair in the group hung out, but it wasn't bad.

"Em." Ali smiled as she walked in the room.

Hanna rolled her eyes, but didn't seem as mad as she had been the last time she'd addressed what was going on between Emily and Alison. Mostly, just mildly annoyed and resigned.

"Hey." Emily breathed out, both nervous about what she was about to confess, and a little flustered by how happy Ali was to see her.

Ali moved over on the bed, obviously making space for Emily sit down.

Emily stayed standing.

"I talked to Paige, after school."

Suddenly, it was as though the temperature in the room had dropped 20 degrees.

Alison looked livid, but also as though she was trying to control it, and nodded her understanding. Hanna clearly knew why she'd been talking to Paige and looked ready to snap.

"Emily, what the hell? I thought we agreed, I'm gonna talk to Mona. She'll never trust me if she thinks I'm part of some plan to put a mole on her team."

"She says that Melissa is on Mona's team." Emily said, not responding to Hanna's points.

Ali refocused at that news, didn't seem as worried about Emily talking to her ex, a girl she'd hated since years before becoming her almost girlfriend's ex, when she had her weird rivalry with the older Hastings to think about.

Though, Emily wasn't naïve enough to believe that she would just forget it either.

"Honestly, for Spencer's sake, I wish I could say I was surprised," Ali bitterly noted.

Emily almost questioned that, but decided it was pointless. If Ali had any intention of expanding on that statement she would. Interrogating her over it wouldn't do anything.

Besides, honestly, Emily wasn't surprised either.

Melissa and Alison had never gotten along, even before her thing with Ian had started. And Melissa did also have a habit of meeting up with shady people and doing shady things, even if in the end it usually turned out that she wasn't doing whatever they had suspected her of doing. Something about her tended to keep the whole group on edge.

"Well, so what? Melissa's bad news, everyone knows that, this doesn't change anything. All you did was make things even harder for me with Mona, because we all know she's gonna find out about your little talk with Paige," Hanna burst out.

"Hanna, this actually was important. Knowing that Melissa is involved means that we have to watch everything we say, and stay aware of everything going on around us, at both Spencer's house and mine. Before, we might not have trusted Melissa, but we wouldn't know just how cautious we need to be." Ali stepped in.

Emily raised an eyebrow at the protective tone, as though it was making Ali's blood boil to watch her get berated.

Hanna sighed. "Okay, sorry, chill out. I get it. This is just frustrating. Every time we think we know something or come up with a plan, we find out something else. It feels like everyone is always ten steps ahead of us."

Both Emily and Ali softened. That at least was pretty relatable. It was how they all felt constantly over the past few years.

Ali hugged Hanna for a long moment, then stood up, stepping in close to Emily.

Emily wondered if Ali really hadn't noticed that Hanna had made no move to hug her back.

* * *

Emily stayed parked in the Dilaurentis driveway rather than just drive away after Alison got out of the car.

Maybe it was paranoid, and she did feel a little weird about watching Ali wander around her house turning on lamps, but she just needed a few more moments to make sure that everything was okay. It turned out that having multiple girlfriends die on you, even if one did come back, made you a little worrisome when it came time to part ways with said girlfriends, even if it was just for the night.

Emily shook her head at herself, and started to pull out of the driveway when she saw the light that Ali had just turned on go out. It was probably nothing, just Ali deciding to go upstairs instead, and turning out lights that she wasn't using. The thing about it, though, was that she'd never seen Ali do anything like that before. Ali didn't care about electric bills or the environment.

Now she knew she was being paranoid and completely ridiculous, but she couldn't stop herself from getting out of the car.

The moment she reached the door and found it unlocked she knew that something had to be wrong. She swung the door and started jogging down the hall.

"Ali? Is everything okay?"

The only response was the sound of shattered glass, a thud, and, unmistakably, Alison gasping and crying out in pain.

Emily rushed into the room and didn't even think before reacting, just threw herself at the hoodied figure choking Alison with her own scarf.

After that it was a blur, the next thing she knew she was on the ground, the only thought going through her mind being that she needed to make sure Ali was okay.

She crawled over to Ali and pulled her into her arms, a door slamming behind her as whoever it was made their escape.

* * *

"We're calling the police."

Ali coughed a few times before she could answer.

"You can't do that. I'm not getting the police anymore involved in my life than I have to, none of us need them looking at us too closely. Not with half of them convinced that we're the spawn of satan, snooping around trying to poke holes in our story. You can't call my dad either, because if he finds out he'll go to the police himself," Ali argued, throwing her scarf on the table, and moving a hand up to rub her throat.

"Ali, someone broke into your house and attacked you. They have to realize that you're the victim here."

"And what if they don't? People aren't very trusting of me lately, if you haven't noticed, Emily. Then I'm just inviting the police into my life, having them watch my every move, even as they're building a case against us, for nothing. I'm not relying on the kindness of strangers.

"The only people I trust are you and the girls."

* * *

"It wasn't A. I mean whoever it was could have killed me, and chose not to," Ali insisted.

Spencer was still throwing the idea that A might not really be gone out there. She had a point about how it seemed like a pretty 'A' thing to do, torturing one of them, but they hadn't heard anything from A since Shana died.

Emily really didn't want to even consider the thought of A still hanging around, and shifted uncomfortably at the 'Ali could have died tonight' talk.

"Who would want to scare you like that?" Spencer insisted.

This time Alison was the one fidgeting, glancing down at the floor, and then up at Emily, passing the ball over to her.

Emily sighed and shrugged, "An angry classmate working with Mona, or…Your sister."

"Melissa?" Spencer said. Sounding pretty incredulous about it considering the fact that Melissa was always hanging out with people who hated their whole group.

"She's part of Mona's gang."

"Look, we don't know who it is. It was too dark to see anything," Ali interrupted, oddly enough being the one trying to keep the peace, and comfort Spencer.

Emily grimaced inwardly at that. It wasn't fair of her to keep believing that any kind gesture Ali made was something to raise eyebrows at. While being friends with Alison hadn't always been easy, it also hadn't always been difficult.

In her own way, she'd looked out for all of them, had made all of them laugh, had even been a good friend to them sometimes. They'd loved her for a reason. And Emily knew that she was the one that had been shown that kindness more often than anyone else.

Ali had been proving lately that she really had grown up, that she meant it when she said that she was trying to be better. It was time for Emily let go of her old perceptions of Alison, and get to know the person that she had become.

Emily looked up as Aria and Hanna rushed in, Aria throwing herself at Ali for a hug.

* * *

"I never thanked you for what you did tonight."

Emily looked down at that, uncomfortable with the gratitude.

"I didn't do anything."

"You risked your life for me, Em. Most people see danger and they run in the other direction as fast as they can." Alison disagreed, and Emily was surprised with the level of admiration that she saw as Alison stared at her intently.

Emily held her gaze for a long moment, drinking in Ali's affection, but also feeling undeserving of it in that instance.

Emily didn't know about most people, but she did know that no matter how everyone was feeling about Ali lately, Spencer, Hanna, and Aria all would have done the same thing. Even Ali herself had saved all their lives at some point, pulling them out of burning buildings and barns, just to start with. They had each other's backs because they loved each other, it wasn't anything that anyone in the group usually expected praise for.

"It's getting late, do you want me to take you home?" Emily asked, standing up and turning to Alison, only to find that she wasn't making any move to get up.

"I don't want to be alone tonight. Can I stay here tonight?" Alison asked, tentatively, as though she was nervous about it, but also well aware that there was no chance of Emily telling her she had to leave.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Emily answered softly, moving to pull the covers aside for Alison.

Alison slid into them and looked at Emily expectantly, surprised when Emily just sat down on top of the covers.

"I'm just going to stay up for a little while," Emily explained, shrugging, and leaned back against the headboard. She tried to look casual, as though she simply wasn't tired yet, not wanting to reveal to Alison that she was really preparing to play guard all night.

Emily had already been worried about what people would try to pull now that Alison was back, the attack was only making her anxieties worse. It almost made her wonder whether Ali being back in Rosewood really was the best thing for her, or if Emily was just being selfish.

Emily shrugged that thought off. Yeah, she did want Alison back, but Rosewood, where all of Ali's friends and family were, had to be better than being alone on the streets. Even with as many enemies as Ali had. Emily was confident that a number of Mona's followers would get bored with the game sooner rather than later, so long as Alison managed not to harass anyone, and others would probably even be won over by Ali's charm.

As messed up as Ali's confrontation with Mona had been, she hadn't been wrong when she'd said that everyone wanted to be her friend, or that she could easily become the Queen Bee of Rosewood once more, if she put her mind to it. There was something magnetic about Alison, irresistible, and if they could just hold out for a little longer Ali's number of enemies would probably go right back down to the likes of Mona, Jenna, Melissa, and, possibly, a few other kids that Ali had been especially merciless towards.

In the meantime, though, all bets were off.

Alison nodded, but instead of rolling over and going to sleep, as Emily had thought she would, she moved forward and pressed a lingering to Emily's lips. Emily allowed herself to enjoy it, just for a minute, and moved her lips down, kissing Ali's jaw, and then the ring of bruises around her neck.

Those bruises gave Emily the resolve that she needed to pull back. To not let herself get distracted by her want for Alison, to not let herself just fall in-between the sheets with her and forget about the rest of the world.

Someone had broken into her house and attacked her. Someone who wasn't even A, a random person in town, only hours before. Emily just couldn't get in the mood with that thought hanging over her, what it might cost her if she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings tonight.

Emily pulled back slowly, kissing Alison a few more times, and wrapped an arm around her as she curled up against her.

Alison's eyebrows were furrowed. Emily could tell that she was confused by her actions, but instead of forcing Emily to tell her, she allowed Emily to have her secret. Something that the old Alison never would have done, and seemed soothed by their proximity and the feeling of Emily running her fingers through her wavy blonde hair.


End file.
